Armour is used to protect vehicles and their occupants from hostile fire. It is generally desirable for armour to be light, low-cost, and small in size. A number of known armour systems, such as that disclosed in International Patent Application, Publication Number WO2008/045128, make use of layered systems comprising a number of materials and incorporating differing functional components. There exists a general need, however, to improve the functionality of the components of the armour, and to increase the extent to which the different components interact with each other in order to respond appropriately to hostile fire, such as a shock wave and impulse resulting from a nearby explosion, or the impact of a ballistic projectile. There exists a further general need for light-weight armour that is able to efficiently carry both static and kinematic structural loads, so that additional structural components are not necessary.